The purpose of the conference was to examine research on the subject at hand, to make suggestions, and to provide facts useful for shaping criminal policy in Council of Europe countries. Participants were international criminological researchers, administrators, and representatives of international organizations. Conference papers discuss problems of method and definition in evaluating public attitudes toward crime and fear of crime among the general population, together with the influence of the media on public attitudes toward crime. Also covered are media images and distortions of crime and the criminal justice situation, as well as direct means of media influence and the philosophical relationship between public opinion and criminal legisation policies in specific states (i.e., essentialist and phenomenalist states). The conference discussions following papers focus on the definition of the term 'public opinion,' the relationship of public opinion to criminal policy, and influences on the formation of public opinion. The conference concludes that the media misrepresent information by concentrating on violent crime, by reporting information out of context, and by providing insufficient information relating to social phenomena. Fear of crime and exaggerated uneasiness about criminal acts are attibruted in part to the emphasis on violence in media reports. Specialists in penal policy and criminologists can ameliorate the situation by promoting information transmission and by establishing documentation centers for police officers. Separate bibliographies for each presentation, texts of discussions on each paper, tables, and appendixes containing conference conclusions are provided. For individual conference papers see NCJ 70734-37. --in French.